Will Schaller, Eric Spanos and Logan McNaney were named to the all-conference first team.
No. 2 Maryland men’s lacrosse topped the Big Ten with nine individual postseason honors, according to a conference press release Wednesday.
Maryland’s most impressive individual award was won by Will Schaller, who was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. The junior has helped Maryland allow just 7.7 goals per game mark, which ranks second in Division I, with 23 ground balls and 19 caused turnovers on the season.
But Schaller’s biggest impact does not come on the stat sheet. As the defender responsible for taking on the opponents’ top threat, Schaller has been instrumental in holding four of five Big Ten opponents to just eight goals.
Incredibly, this is the fifth consecutive Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award the Terps have brought home. Ajax Zappitello won the award in 2024, Brett Makar earned it in 2023 and 2022 and Nick Grill began the streak in 2021.
Four Terps were named to an All-Big Ten team, including three on the first team — tied with Ohio State for a conference high. Schaller, graduate goalkeeper Logan McNaney and senior attacker Eric Spanos received a spot on the first team, while graduate long stick midfielder Jack McDonald was named to the second team.
McNaney has had a strong year, recording a 60.3% save percentage that ranks fifth in Division I. He would have won goalkeeper of the year if not for Ohio State’s Caleb Fyock’s 61.1% save percentage.
Spanos has 34 points on the season, tied for the fifth-highest mark in the conference with teammate Braden Erksa, who did not see a conference award. Spanos had at least two points in every Big Ten game this season.
McDonald leads an incredibly strong corp of defensive midfielders for Maryland. He paces the team with 35 ground balls, and has contributed 10 caused turnovers and notched three points.
Jack Schultz, Jonah Carrier and Peter Laake were named to the All-Big Ten freshman team, as the Terps tied Rutgers for the most nods. Schultz has a point in every Big Ten game and 12 on the season, the most outside of the starting six Terps. Carrier earned the Terps’ second faceoff spot throughout the season, winning 55% of 57 faceoffs across Big Ten play. Laake has quickly become a key rotation piece for the Terps on defense, recording four turnovers and two ground balls while playing important minutes.
The final award for Maryland was the team’s Big Ten Sportsmanship award, which was won by Shea Keethler. The senior faceoff specialist was a crucial part of Maryland’s undefeated nonconference campaign, ranking as high as sixth in the country in faceoff win percentage a month into the season.